Telangana push: Congress expels six MPs:
NEW DELHI : The government has decided, sources said, to introduce the politically-charged bill that creates a new Telangana state in Parliament on Thursday.Here are the 10 big developments:The Congress today expelled six of its law-makers who have been disrupting Parliament to ensure the proposal is not taken up for debate.
The move, sources say, is meant to send a strong signal to other dissenters in the party, and to prove to the opposition, especially the BJP, that internal differences within the Congress will not be allowed to waylay the proposal.Plans to downsize Andhra Pradesh by turning the region of Telangana into India’s 29th state are vehemently opposed by leaders from Seemandhra – the areas that will form the residuary state.
The campaign against the bifurcation has been led by Congressman and Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, provoking sharp comments from the BJP.This Parliament session which ends on February 21 is the last before the national election, due by May. The Centre wants statehood for Telangana to be cleared so that it can claim credit for the move, and profit with voters in the region.
The government last evening abandoned plans to introduce the proposal in the Rajya Sabha. That’s because it realized that the proposal to divide Andhra Pradesh and create a new state involves reassigning revenue and taxes. Bills with financial implications must be cleared by the Lok Sabha first, according to Parliament rules.But the government is also hoping that a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow night will allow it to broker the support of opposition parties.
Lawmakers from Seemandhra have been disrupting Parliament every day, tearing up papers and shouting angry slogans, forcing adjournments and paralyzing both houses. )Seemandhra is worried about a downsizing of its share of water, power and revenue from Telangana, which includes the booming economy of the IT hub of Andhra Pradesh.
To counter that, Seemandhra leaders unsuccessfully petitioned the government to turn Hyderabad into a Union Territory. However, the Centre has said that it will not alter the plan for Hyderabad to be a common capital for 10 years for the old and new states. After that, it will belong to Telangana.
